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Freo's fire roaring, but unsatisfied: Lyon

Chris Pike

Fremantle coach Ross Lyon acknowledges the Dockers have put themselves in a strong position halfway through the AFL season, but is cautious of the club taking anything for granted.

Fremantle beat Brisbane by 40 points in Perth on Saturday, stretching their undefeated run to seven games.

The Dockers sit in fifth position just outside the top four at the halfway mark of the season, with fourth-placed Essendon having played an extra game.

While Lyon is happy with where his team sit in his second season in charge, especially with Michael Walters, Matthew Pavlich and Aaron Sandilands to return soon, he knows it can change quickly.

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"I don't think anyone walks away satisfied. But we bank four points and, at the legitimate halfway mark, I think we will take where we sit," Lyon said.

"The fire is roaring a little bit and we're up and about in a real sense and there is some quality on the horizon to return.

"We are under no illusions. Essendon are a really good lesson for us. I think they were 8-2 last year and missed the finals. We can still miss."

Lyon was quick to move his thinking after the win over Brisbane to next Sunday's clash with North Melbourne at Patersons Stadium.

"We have a huge challenge next week against North Melbourne. They are a club who has been put under a fair bit of media scrutiny and public heat for a number of reasons that are well documented," Lyon said.

"We know they are going to be seething and that they are going to erupt so there's no relaxing here.

"There is plenty of hard work (to do). We've achieved nothing except we take four points and we move on really quickly."

Meanwhile, there were encouraging signs for Brisbane coach Michael Voss on Saturday.

With Daniel Rich, Matthew Leuenberger and Tom Rockliff returning from injury against the Dockers, and Daniel Merrett and Jonathon Brown due back from suspension next Sunday against Geelong at the Gabba, Voss is confident he can finally build some continuity in the side.

"The biggest thing we want to be able to do is to create some stability in the side, position by position. We haven't had that for most of the season for one reason or the other," Voss said.